But this is a confession, so good that the case has progressed. What other facts, then?

A source close to their ongoing investigation said: “What he says fits the No1 theory, which is that she was stolen to order.”

Isn’t the No.1 theory, as furthered by the tabloids, that paedophiles stole Madeleine McCann, it having taken the top spot from the libellous theory that the parents, Kate and Gerry McCann had a hand in their daughter’s disappearance? And what then of the Daily Mirror’s six theories, published in May 2007:

“PAEDOPHILE GANG”, the “LONE PAEDOPHILE”, the “JEALOUS MOTHER”, Madeleine wandering off and “DROWNED”, the “OPPORTUNIST PAEDOPHILE”, the “CHILDLESS COUPLE”.

Hewlett died of throat cancer in April, aged 62, after persistently refusing to meet the McCanns’ detectives.

No. He declined to meet the McCanns’ private detectives. He was spoken to by the police.

He became a suspect because of his appalling record of rape and abduction of children.

He was never a suspect. He was a tabloid “person of interest“. Says Hewlett’s son Wayne, 40, of the letter:

“It was a bolt from the blue and I shook when I read it. He stated he didn’t want to go to his grave with us thinking he had done such a horrible thing. He said he had had nothing to do with taking Maddie but did know who had.”

Hewlett was rapist and child abuser. He did horrible things.

“He said a very good gipsy friend he knew in Portugal had got drunk and ‘let it out’ that he had stolen Maddie to order as part of a gang. My dad said this gang had been operating for a long time and had snatched children before for couples who couldn’t have children of their own.

“Maddie had been targeted. They took photos of children and sent them to the people they were acting for. And they said Yes or No.

“Dad said the man told him it was nothing to do with snatching children for a paedophile gang or for a sexual reason.

“He said there were huge sums of money involved. And he totally believed what this man was saying.”

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Embargoed to 0001 Wednesday November 3 Kate and Gerry McCann in Quorn, Leicestershire, as they launch a petition to lobby the UK and Portuguese governments for a joint or independent review over their daughter Madeleine's disappearance.